Dozens of Ulster patients suffering from an incurable cancer linked to asbestos exposure could be deprived of a new life-giving drug because English medical chiefs have ruled it too expensive, it can be revealed today.

The drug, Alimta, is believed to extend the life of a mesothelioma sufferer by up to four months.

But it is not a cure.

The drug has been available on the NHS in Scotland since July last year after being approved by experts at the Scottish Medicines Authority.

But the medical authority in England and Wales, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), ruled that the drug was not cost effective.

At the moment, there is no equivalent body in Northern Ireland - but just last month our Department of Health established a formal link with NICE.

Now, health chiefs here will adopt a wait-and-see approach over the drug’s use in Ulster.

Mesothelioma, which usually kills within a year of diagnosis, is mainly caused by fibres of asbestos that damage the lungs.

It is found in clusters where asbestos was used most widely, and that means places like the shipbuilding industry.

Former mayoress of Derry City Council, Mary Carlin, whose husband Tony died from mesothelioma three years ago at the age of 56, today described NICE’s decision as a “disgrace”.

“Are people going to die sooner to save money?”, she said.

“We would have jumped at the chance if this would have been around for Tony. We had been advised against an operation but anything in tablet form, we would have gone for it.

“People will look at this and say anything is better than nothing.

“It is a horrendous illness.”

A Department of Health spokeswoman said final guidance from NICE for the use of the drug would not be published for a few months.

The health spokeswoman said: “NICE is carrying out a technology appraisal of the drug pemetrexed disodium (brand name Alimta) for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma (a form of asbestosis).

“The institute produced its Final Appraisal Determination (FAD) recommending that this medicine should not be used for the treatment of this condition on the grounds of clinical and cost-effectiveness.

NICE intends to publish its final guidance on this drug in October.

“The department established a formal link with NICE in July 2006 and under this link will assess all of the institute’s guidance currently in development for its applicability to NI and will advise the Health and Personal Social Services accordingly.

“We have asked the NI Cancer Network (NICAN) to comment on any potential contextual difference in NI that might mean that the NICE guidance is either less applicable or not applicable in the NI context.

“The network’s comments will inform the department’s decision on whether to endorse this particular technology appraisal for implementation in the HPSS.”

But a spokeswoman for Lily UK, which manufacturers Alimta, said it would be appealing the decision.

“NICE’s current position is a major blow for patients with mesothelioma many of whom were unwittingly exposed to asbestos in their working lives making submarines, ships, boilers, and trains,” she said.

In January last year, Dr Ken O’Byrne, consultant oncologist at St James’s Hospital and chairman of the British Thoracic Oncology Group, warned in Dublin that mesothelioma was increasing rapidly in Ireland and had yet to peak.

An estimated 80-100 victims die from asbestos-related illnesses in Ulster every year.

Admissions to Ulster hospitals from such conditions have nearly trebled in just 10 years.

Source: Belfast Telegraph